# Cigar band table (image heavy)



## 8ball

Well, this all started off with me wanting to refinish the top of my bar in my basement. Not having much experience, I decided to start on an old table that was left by the previous homeowner. This table was quite ugly, and I originally put it in our garage sale for $5 and it remained unsold. I then moved it into the garage and it served as a convenient place to store cutters, misc. stuff, and a nice spot to place a drink. The top was pretty much destroyed by myself for placing sweating glasses on it, and the veneer cracked and split.

Total time: about 4-5 hours
Products used: 
Palm sander
painters tape
Matte Mod podge (Glue)
about 100 cigar labels
Pair of scissors
Rust Oleum Painters touch Satin Dark Walnut spray paint
Minwax clear gloss Polyurethane
Wooster Pro Paintbrush
Small cheap artist brush
One new knob

I never thought this would turn into anything nice, so unfortunately, I did not take any pictures until the top was already done. I also originally did not plan on painting the table, so I kinda worked backwards and painted after competing the top.

To give you an idea on what the table looked like before:








The ugly drawer with the taped on paper lifting:









I started off sanding the top down smooth as best as I could. After that was done, I started applying the labels making a boarder around the top of the table. I used the artist brush to apply the mod podge glue to each label. Amazingly, I applied all of the labels straight through and it took about 3.5 hours. After that was completed, I used blue painters tape around the areas that did not have any labels. This was to prep for the polyurethane.

Throughout the next week, I applied 10 coats of the minwax using a wooster pro brush. I originally wanted to have it where you could not feel the bands, but after 10 coats, that was not happening. I had seen other products that would accomplish this, but they are a bit pricy (remember, I'm hoping to do my bar top and now I have a ton of poly left over for that job.

When I was finally satisfied with the top, I used the blue painters tape around the edge of the table and also used some newspaper so that I would not get any paint on the top. I spent one day out in the garage using the spray paint to finish off the table. 









After it finally dried it was time to unveil the final result:









10 coats sure adds some shine:









The top (had to turn off the flash to reduce the glare:








As I side note, I would advise not to use thin paper labels. In the top picture, you can see how the Liga Privada band in the top right corner soaked in some of the poly and discolored the label.










Some tools of the trade:


















Next up is the bar top which I will probably hold off until winter time. I'm thinking I may just do a boarder of sports cards as opposed to cigar labels. I never realized how much labels it would take just to do this table. I guess its a good excuse to replenish my supply of cigars. Hope you enjoyed.


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## exprime8

nice work.... around how many labels did you use?


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## aea6574

Very nice looking table, can't wait to see your bar.

Best regards, Tony


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## djcsewell

This is awesome man! I've actually been saving my bands for awhile to make a table. Im glad you posted how to do this! 
Thanks for sharing 8ball!!


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## longburn

Great job Eric! That came out really nice, thanks for sharing the pictures of it. It gives me an idea as I have a similar end table that's just been sort of sitting around waiting on our next "neighborhood trash day" when the garbage man will pick up such things but I think instead it will turn into a nice new smoking table to store my tins in.


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## Fuzzy

Great job, Eric! Always like the idea of recycling.


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## TonyBrooklyn

NICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## KSB

That table is awesome!


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## 8ball

exprime8 said:


> nice work.... around how many labels did you use?


It's probably between 100 and 120 bands. I tried to count, but it gets a little tough due to the bands being all different sizes. Thanks for the compliments guys. I've actually been thinking of going to garage and estate sales to find future projects.


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## Desertlifter

Nice - and love the "The Trooper" poster on the fridge!

Up the irons!!!!!!!!


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## android

looks great! thanks for sharing


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## Bondo 440

Did this with a guitar, Miniwax, and beer labels a long time ago. LOL I no longer have the time for either 

Ten coats of urethane is impressive. There's enough finish on there that you could actually wrap black #220 sandpaper around a block of wood and wet sand the high spots down. The runoff will be a light milky texture and the high spots would be exposed after a quick wipe as dull streaks. When the top evolves to be all dull, wipe it off with clean cold water and let dry and recoat. 

You may already may know that, and everybody's got an opinion so don't take that the wrong way. Your table doesn't look like it really needs it. You could do finish forever ! I did my Cutlass with basecoat / clearcoat and shot the clear coat so many times the only reason I stopped is because the third trip to the supplier to get more, he was finally all out. 

Definately a nice smoking table. I am going to need something similar for when I smoke in the garage, for my first "cigar winter". Crap guess I might get into this again.....LOL


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## Tumadre99

That table is beautiful. 

Being new to the game I was kinda just saving the band because it was a new experience, but now I have something to look foreword to while collecting.


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## Engineer99

You take my life but I'll take yours too
Your fire your musket but I'll run you through
And when you're waiting for the next attack
You better stand, there's no turning back....

(drum fill)

The bugle sounds as the charge begins
But on this battlefield no one wins
The smell of acrid smoke and horses breath
As you plunge into a certain death....

I swear I must have listened to that record 1000 times all the way through....the soundtrack to 8th grade.

Nice work on the table. I have a lot of bands set aside for a project of similar epic-ness...


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## Fraze

That's awesome.

My wife tells me to do something like that with all my labels but I haven't stepped up to it yet.


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## mjohnsoniii

Looks like something I thought about doing a while back. Great job on that table. You may have just given me the motivation to actually get started soon. Thanks for sharing, Eric.


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## 8ball

Engineer99 said:


> You take my life but I'll take yours too
> Your fire your musket but I'll run you through
> And when you're waiting for the next attack
> You better stand, there's no turning back....
> 
> (drum fill)
> 
> The bugle sounds as the charge begins
> But on this battlefield no one wins
> The smell of acrid smoke and horses breath
> As you plunge into a certain death....
> 
> I swear I must have listened to that record 1000 times all the way through....the soundtrack to 8th grade.
> 
> Nice work on the table. I have a lot of bands set aside for a project of similar epic-ness...


Yeah, I had to throw in some Maiden in the picture. My first album was Powerslave and I was and still am amazed at seventh son of a seventh son.


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## exprime8

i ask becaue i have a very similar table just sitting there, and didnt know what to do with it, but now i know...


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## smoking ash

very kewl!!!


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## hawesg

Very nice!


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## Steel Talon

Very nice indeed!

Good Karma
Tal~


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## zephead61

Nice and classy! Good job!


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## Ryan7311

Amazing!


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## ejgarnut

Good job on the table Eric, it turned out really nice!


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## BigDaveE

Great job! Nice how to also!! I have Been saving my labels for a table as well, just not sure if I want to do a coffee table or a table like you did..


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## tylernim

I'm collecting bands for this very reason. Getting around to actually doing it is another story.


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## Hannibal

I'd be willing to place a bet, that if put in another yard sale, it would sell for sure now!! But we all know that's NOT going to happen..... is it??? PLEASE say no...... :lol:


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## Pasty

Great work on the table, can't wait to see the bar!


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## StogieJim

Man that table is beautiful! Great work


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## DarrelMorris

The table looks great. I may have to think about a project like this...


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## Hall25

Very nice job Bro!!!


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## xSentinelx

Nice work there Eric. That's what I wanna do with my bands. Looks great.


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## Epoch

+1 on wanting to do this as well. I have a table that I ruined the top of and have been planning on refinishing, now I want to do a band table.


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## thunderdan11

That came out great. Nice job


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## Kingtut82

that's a great idea I have been looking for something to do with all my opus and rare bee bands cheers botl


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## bluesman.54

You did an amazing job here. You had a great vision and are obviously a talented craftsman. The table is top-notch. Absolutely beautiful. Congratulations and may you enjoy it for years to come. And -- on the outside chance you woud ever part with it -- I would appreciate being the first call.

Michael



8ball917 said:


> Well, this all started off with me wanting to refinish the top of my bar in my basement. Not having much experience, I decided to start on an old table that was left by the previous homeowner. This table was quite ugly, and I originally put it in our garage sale for $5 and it remained unsold. I then moved it into the garage and it served as a convenient place to store cutters, misc. stuff, and a nice spot to place a drink. The top was pretty much destroyed by myself for placing sweating glasses on it, and the veneer cracked and split.
> 
> Total time: about 4-5 hours
> Products used:
> Palm sander
> painters tape
> Matte Mod podge (Glue)
> about 100 cigar labels
> Pair of scissors
> Rust Oleum Painters touch Satin Dark Walnut spray paint
> Minwax clear gloss Polyurethane
> Wooster Pro Paintbrush
> Small cheap artist brush
> One new knob
> 
> I never thought this would turn into anything nice, so unfortunately, I did not take any pictures until the top was already done. I also originally did not plan on painting the table, so I kinda worked backwards and painted after competing the top.
> 
> To give you an idea on what the table looked like before:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The ugly drawer with the taped on paper lifting:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I started off sanding the top down smooth as best as I could. After that was done, I started applying the labels making a boarder around the top of the table. I used the artist brush to apply the mod podge glue to each label. Amazingly, I applied all of the labels straight through and it took about 3.5 hours. After that was completed, I used blue painters tape around the areas that did not have any labels. This was to prep for the polyurethane.
> 
> Throughout the next week, I applied 10 coats of the minwax using a wooster pro brush. I originally wanted to have it where you could not feel the bands, but after 10 coats, that was not happening. I had seen other products that would accomplish this, but they are a bit pricy (remember, I'm hoping to do my bar top and now I have a ton of poly left over for that job.
> 
> When I was finally satisfied with the top, I used the blue painters tape around the edge of the table and also used some newspaper so that I would not get any paint on the top. I spent one day out in the garage using the spray paint to finish off the table.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> After it finally dried it was time to unveil the final result:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 10 coats sure adds some shine:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The top (had to turn off the flash to reduce the glare:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> As I side note, I would advise not to use thin paper labels. In the top picture, you can see how the Liga Privada band in the top right corner soaked in some of the poly and discolored the label.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Some tools of the trade:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Next up is the bar top which I will probably hold off until winter time. I'm thinking I may just do a boarder of sports cards as opposed to cigar labels. I never realized how much labels it would take just to do this table. I guess its a good excuse to replenish my supply of cigars. Hope you enjoyed.


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## Griffin2020

That is really cool...


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## jmaloneaz

Been saving my bands since I started with a project like this in mind. You did a great job and thanks for sharing the info.


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## bretted432

Thanks for share excellent post and totally agree with you ejgarnut Good job on the table Eric


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## ubenumber2

great job on the table


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## ELLASU

Cool idea!


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## Gdaddy

Great job on the table.

If you ever want a very thick gloss finish Home Depot sells a product called... Rust-Oleum Parks 1-qt. Gloss 'Super Glaze' Finish. $24.98

It's an epoxy that goes on very thick and looks like clear glass when dried. "Just one pour of this crystal-clear epoxy is as thick as 60 coats of varnish. Perfect for bar tops, kitchen islands and more."


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